Admittedly, I am biased. I founded CRIIGEN in 1999 because I needed to know. My government experience gave me serious doubts about GMOs. My scepticism was shared by the Prime Minister Alain Juppe, who had signed a moratorium on GMOs in 1997. Subsequently, as President of CRIIGEN, I wanted, followed, and supported the study by Professor Gilles-Eric Seralini on NK603 maize. Continue reading →

September 20, 2012, Ottawa. The first-ever GM food safety study to test over the entire life span of laboratory rats (2 years) was published yesterday and found serious health impacts from eating Monsanto’s genetically engineered (also called genetically modified or GM) corn NK603, which was approved in Canada in 2001. The peer-reviewed study also tested the impacts of consuming residues of Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, the widest selling herbicide in the world. Continue reading →

Many of you will have heard about the study by Gilles-Eric Seralini of the University of Caen and colleagues which said rats fed on a diet containing NK603 – a corn seed variety made tolerant to Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller – or given water with Roundup at levels permitted in the United States, died earlier than those on a standard diet.

We have held off blogging on this to see what the media reaction would be. Most often when negative studies about GE crops come out, the methodology behind the study is criticised by biotech back scientists, and, if that doesn’t work, the reputation of the scientists are called into question. The first has been the response to this study. The North American mainstream media has also tried to ignore the study, but it has been all over the European press.

We are posting 5 blogs taken from GM watch. More will follow in the next few days.

The bottom line is we don’t know if GE crops are safe or not because of a lack of independent testing (regulatory authorities in the USA and Canada take the studies produced by biotech companies, and don’t do their own studies). And if we don’t know whether they are safe or not, they shouldn’t be planted or eaten.

The report called “GMO Myths and Truths, An evidence-based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops”, by Michael Antoniou, PhD, Claire Robinson, and John Fagan, PhD is published by Earth Open Source. The report is 123 pages long and contains over 600 citations, many of them from the peer-reviewed scientific literature and the rest from reports by scientists, physicians, government bodies, industry, and the media. The report is available here:http://earthopensource.org/index.php/reports/58 A shorter summary version will be released in the coming weeks. Below are some key points from the report. Continue reading →

Alfalfa growers do not need or want genetically modified (GM) alfalfa and have been trying to stop it for at least five years. Organic food and farming in North America is under immediate threat from GM alfalfa. Conventional farmers will also lose their markets. The introduction of Monsanto’s GM herbicide tolerant (Roundup Ready) alfalfa would have serious negative impacts on many different types of farmers and farming systems. Because alfalfa is a perennial crop pollinated by bees, GM contamination is inevitable. GM alfalfa was actually approved in Canada in 2005 but still needs to go through one more step before it can be legally sold as seed in Canada. Protect family farms, join the campaign to stop GM alfalfa! For more information and action see http://www.cban.ca/alfalfa

A new 30-page report that documents the growing influence of agribusiness on the multilateral food system and the lack of transparency in research funding has been released today by the international civil society organization ETC Group. The Greed Revolution: Mega Foundations, Agribusiness Muscle In On Public Goods presents three case studies – one involving the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and two involving CGIAR Centers (Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research) – which point to a dangerous trend that will worsen rather than solve the problem of global hunger. The report details the involvement of, among others, Nestlé, Heineken, Monsanto, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Syngenta Foundation. Continue reading →